Disclaimer: The characters of, "Stargate: SG-1" and "Stargate Atlantis", are owned by Robert C. Cooper, Brad Wright, Sci-Fi Channel and whoever else was involved with the creation and production of these two shows. Any new characters and story lines that come into play are of my own creation. No copyright infringement is intended. This is a fanfiction intended for entertainment purposes only and no money is being made off of it.
guardianM3: This is my first Stargate Atlantis fanfiction. I haven't seen the show in awhile and the last time I saw it was when they stopped the Wraith from getting to Earth. I had also missed some shows in between. I don't have cable or satellite dish and they had been playing it on some local channel where I live, but they don't have it anymore. I hope I have the characters written correctly, but please let me know if any of them are off.
Chapter 1: Jungle Planet
Lt. Colonel John Sheppard scanned the area before he signaled to his team with a wave of his arm to continue. He swept his dark hair out of his blue eyes and gave himself a reminder to get a haircut. Somehow, he would have to find the time between missions and protecting Atlantis from the Wraith, the Genii and anything else that was bound to come up.
Teyla was second in line, keeping her eyes on the surrounding area and for signals from Sheppard. Even though she wore the uniform, she was from a race that lived within the galaxy that the Ancients had once resided millions of years ago. Now, her people lived on the planet that the city of Atlantis had made it its home.
Dr. Rodney McKay, a brilliant scientist with an ego and a tendency to whine was trying to get the life source detector to work. It would start to show a life source for a few minutes but then it would disappear. He hoped the scanner was malfunctioning.
Ronon Dex brought up the rear, his weapon in his hands, hoping that this wouldn't turn out to be one of those boring missions like gathering plants and reading Ancient writing from a rock.
"Great, I love the jungle." McKay complained as he killed another insect that had landed on his neck.
It had been two hours since they had come through the Stargate using the Puddle Jumper. They had been exploring and detailing the planet, taking note of the vegetation life, but so far, they hadn't seen any animals or creatures besides the mosquito-like creatures that continued to bite them. Of course, recently, McKay had told the rest of the team that the life source detector wasn't working up to standards.
"It's not that bad, McKay. It's nice and warm, plenty of vegetation, and some strange looking creatures that I think sees us as its next meal," Sheppard said as he stopped and watched as two hairy creatures that looked like a cross between a tiger and a raptor were coming toward them at great speed.
"What? Oh great!" McKay exclaimed, almost dropping the life detector.
Sheppard, Ronon and Teyla fired at the creatures but the creatures were quick and agile enough to avoid the attack.
"Let's go," Sheppard said as he fired two more shots that were useless. Obviously, the creatures were a lot cleverer than they looked.
"The Stargate is too far away," McKay said, calculating in his head the time it would take the creatures to reach them as they headed toward the Puddle Jumper. He knew that the creatures would be able to overtake them.
"There is a cave, those creatures won't be able to enter it," Teyla said as she pointed. It was about twenty yards from where they were currently standing. John was surprised that he hadn't seen it, but he was glad that Teyla had.
The mouth of the cave looked at though the broad-shouldered Ronon would barely be able to enter it but the cave was the only chance had since they wouldn't be able to make it to the Puddle Jumper.
Sheppard wondered how Teyla could have seen the cave that blended in with the jungle since it was covered in leafy vines and other plant life. "All right, let's head to that cave. Ronon and I will cover you two. Or we will at least try," Sheppard added underneath his breath since the creature he had been shooting at had avoided two more of his shots.
Teyla and McKay took off, knowing that Sheppard and Ronon were right behind them.
"I just hope this cave doesn't have those Iratus bugs!" Sheppard yelled as he fired a round at the creatures.
"I would take those bugs over these things any day," McKay said.
"Right, you didn't have one of those things attached to your neck!" Sheppard shot back just as he entered the cave behind his team just as one of the creatures had tried to grab him with very sharp teeth.
"Uh, guys. We are not alone in here," McKay said from the beginning of a turn of the cave that Teyla, Ronon and John could not see what he was seeing.
"It had better not be any parasitic bugs, McKay," Sheppard said as he raised his weapon and walked up to McKay, Ronon and Teyla standing on either side of Sheppard.
McKay frowned and pointed the light he had in his hand.
About twenty feet in the cave was a girl in a crystal, her eyes closed. Without stepping closer, Sheppard could tell that the woman was in some type of slumber stasis state. He could also conclude that she had been there quite some time, with all of the dust that had collected on the floor and around the stasis chamber, even though the stasis chamber didn't have a speck of dust on it. He could also see that her hair was black and had a tint of blue within it. He estimated her age to be in the range of the mid twenties to the early thirties.
McKay stepped up to the stasis chamber. "Should we wake her?" McKay asked as he placed his hand on the stasis chamber and felt that it was cold to the touch.
"We do not know who she is or why she was put here," Teyla warned.
"All right. We'll have to have Dr. Beckett here anyway, just in case she is ill or something," Sheppard said.
McKay pulled his hand away and wiped his hand on his pants, hoping that he hadn't just contracted a fatal disease. "Yeah, she may have been placed in there because she has some sort of infectious disease," McKay said as he cast a weary glance at the woman, wondering why he had thought about releasing her in the first place.
Shepard raised an amused eyebrow. "Right. Anyway, I think Dr. Weir will want to hear about this anyway."
"Do you think she is an Ancient?" Ronon asked.
"It's possible, but wouldn't she have ascended or left like the others? Why is she on this planet?" Teyla asked.
"Well, there is Ancient writing on the stasis chamber and on the walls, but they are too faded to make out. I'm going to take some pictures. We'll be able to clear up the images in Atlantis," McKay said as he began to take pictures, while Teyla shone the light in the direction that McKay indicated.
"All right. We'll leave her here. Since she seems to have been here for quite awhile, she should be safe for a little while longer. We need to head back to the Puddle Jumper as soon as we can. Ronon, check to see if the creatures have left," Sheppard ordered, wanting to keep an eye on the girl even though she was frozen.
"We have to be careful, the creatures may be waiting for us to step out of the cave and then attack us," Ronon warned. He had a strange feeling about those creatures that put him on edge. It seemed to him that the creatures were not after the explorers just for a snack, but as though they were protecting something.
"We will just have to take a look. McKay, can you fix the life detector?" Sheppard asked.
"Uh, no I don't have the materials with me. What do you think I am? Some sort of toolbox that has the parts needed to fix anything that breaks down?" McKay said haughtily.
"Yup," Sheppard replied as his gaze returned to the woman in the stasis chamber.
"None of the creatures are in sight," Ronon said when he returned to the group.
"Well, we could stay here until we are certain those things are gone," McKay suggested.
"Or, those things might be trying to find a way in," Ronon said and watched in amusement as McKay paled.
"Great. So, what do you want to do, make a run for the Jumper?" McKay asked as he fiddled with the life detector, ignoring the look on Ronon's face.
"That's an excellent idea, McKay. Thank you," Sheppard replied as he added ammo to his weapon.
"You're welcome. Wait! I was being sarcastic! Didn't you hear the sarcasm in my voice? You want to take a chance running out there when I can't even detect if they're near?"
"Yeah, but that's the only option we have here," Sheppard pointed out.
"Those creatures avoided our attack. I believe we are assuming those creatures are normal predators. They are cleverer than we are assuming."
"I agree with Teyla. Those things are up to something," Ronon said.
"Well, I see that we have two options. Option number one is to remain here and wait for those creatures to leave us alone or they may find a way in and eat us. Option number two is to run out of here with guns blazing in which we may be eaten. Which option do you guys care to take?" Sheppard asked, already knowing the answers he was going to receive.
"Option number two," Ronon said with a grin as he grabbed his other gun. Teyla nodded her head, agreeing with Ronon's choice.
John, Ronon and Teyla looked at McKay. McKay sighed. "All right, option number two, but only because you guys out voted me."
Ronon took the lead, his big gun ready to fire at a second's notice. Teyla was right behind him, her eyes scanning the area around her and keeping close to Ronon. Following a few steps behind Teyla was McKay clutching the life detector, trying to get it to work. Last was Sheppard, knowing that his position was more vulnerable to attack.
As Sheppard ran, he blocked out the sounds of his teammates footsteps and the sounds of their packs bouncing on their backs. He hoped that the creatures had lost interest in them and had gone to search for other prey.
A flash of green caught Sheppard's eye but before he could warn his team, the creature made its appearance.
Sheppard turned, raised his gun and fired at the creature. The creature continued toward him, stretched out its arm, and knocked the gun out of Sheppard's hands.
Ronon was about to fire his gun, when a creature came at McKay. Ronon fired at the creature and pulled McKay towards him, away from the path of the creature. Teyla, once she had seen Ronon save McKay focused her attention on the creature that had just knocked Sheppard onto the ground.
The creature dug its claws into Sheppard's left leg. He screamed in pain as he tried to get away.
"John!" Teyla yelled as she tried to get to him, but another creature stepped in front of her. She quickly fired at the creature before her and watched as green blood dripped from the creature, but it continued towards her.
The creature brought its jaws down and was about to grab onto Sheppard's shoulder.
Sheppard watched as hands grasped the creature's neck and turned it sharply. He heard a crunch as the bones snapped. Sheppard scurried away, being careful not to put any pressure on his injured leg.
Sheppard watched with surprise as the girl who had been in stasis walked over to him. She grabbed his arm and pulled him to his feet. She had him lean on her shoulder for support.
Teyla had managed to kill the creature that had tried to attack her, as did Rohan with the one that had gone after McKay.
The team realized that the girl had saved Sheppard and decided they had better run to the Puddle Jumper before more creatures came out to meet them.
When they made it inside, Teyla closed the doors. McKay jumped into the pilot's seat and got the Puddle Jumper heading toward the Stargate.
"Who are you?" Ronon asked keeping his hand close to his weapon.
The girl turned to look at Ronon, but didn't say a word as she slumped to the floor.
"Hey, is she all right?" Sheppard asked, trying to see beyond Teyla as she bandaged his wounds.
"She doesn't have any visible wounds, so we'll let Dr. Beckett answer that question," Ronon said, once he had checked the girl for any wounds.
"She's the one from the stasis chamber, right?" McKay asked as he guided the Puddle Jumper.
"Yeah, and she just saved our lives," Sheppard replied as he looked at the girl with several questions going through his mind.
guardianM3: Don't forget to review with thoughts, comments, etc.
